This narrative takes the form of a verbose, supercilious letter running to 28,000 words, supposedly written by a seven-year-old boy at camp, to his parents at home. The epistle, if it is to be taken at face value, shows the dangerous communication gap that develops between a precocious child and the average-minded parents, who may lack understanding of their child's statements, needs, and psychological danger signs.

The letter also points up the likely difficulty such a wunderkind has in trying to adjust to a world not inclined to receive its enlightenment and guidance from the mouths of babes. This specimen of premature intellectual advancement refers to his periodic "appearances" on earth, as well as to his unhealthy mental condition referenced in examples such as: "a vein of instability" running through him "quite like some turbulent river," his having "left this troublesome instability uncorrected in [his] previous two appearances," and...